


some people have lives; some people have music

by pelli



Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-16 08:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pelli/pseuds/pelli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "some people have lives; some people have music"</p>
            </blockquote>





	some people have lives; some people have music

Apparently she should have been expecting it. According to Quinn and Mercedes, the signs had been there for at least the last month and they had just thought she was ignoring them.

She hadn’t been.

She’d just been pretending that they didn’t exist; that she didn’t notice the way his eyes lingered on Santana every time she passed him. She’d always known she’d end up losing him to someone beautiful and popular, but to be honest, she had thought that there was a greater chance that it would be Quinn; his history with her holding more power than his history with Santana.

Or so she had thought, anyway.

He’d broken up with her on a Friday so at least she had been able to spend the weekend being miserable in the privacy of her own home. She had watched the terribly cliché break up movies, pulled out all those songs that you’re supposed to listen to after a break up, and cried into her bowl of low-fat vegan ice cream as she sang along to them.

She’d been humoured for the most part; the other Glee members had given her a wide berth offering no spiteful comments and letting her have all of the Glee solos, that somehow, all seemed to be about heartbreak and moving on, without argument.

It only lasted two weeks, though, as apparently that was enough time to mourn the end of her relationship. It had been Kurt and Mercedes that pulled her aside first, telling her that they were tired of seeing her walking around looking like her dreams of Broadway had been dashed and that a makeover was just what she needed to cheer her up.

(One makeover from Kurt was enough for her so she had quite quickly declined with a polite ‘No, thank you’.)

Mike and Tina had invited her to have dinner with them at Dim Sum and again, she had politely declined their offer because she’d sort of been avoiding them since the whole ‘sending Sunshine to an Asian crack house’ scenario.

(She’s not quite sure what their idea of revenge is so she’s erred on the side of caution when it has come to the two of them.)

Brittany had been next telling her that ‘the best way to get over a guy was to get under another’ and she has no idea who came up with that logic but it’s certainly not a concept she agrees with. Unfortunately, Quinn had somehow found out about the conversation and latched on to the idea, insisting that she needed to be set up on a date.

(She’s suffered from enough of Quinn’s pranks to not fall for that one.)

Even Artie had wheeled alongside her one day when she was on her way to the auditorium and she’s not quite sure what his speech was meant to convey but there were far too many slang words for her to understand whether he was being offensive to her or trying to cheer her up.

(She’s not naïve enough to realise that a lot of the conversations people hold with her contain thinly veiled insults.)

It’s almost amusing; everyone had been counting down to their eventual break up but no one been prepared for the depressed state she’s in now. She hadn’t expected the break up at all and there is only so much heartache that she can hide from everyone around her. She knows that it takes more than a boy to define her but she had been one half of a relationship for a year and the fact that it’s over now, well, it’s taking her some time to remember how to be alone again.

She spent the first year and a half of high school being alone.

She doesn’t want to be alone anymore.

When Santana holds onto his hand a couple of beats longer than necessary and she sees the flirty smile cross the Cheerio’s face, the mask she’s been wearing in an attempt to pretend that she’s okay falls completely.

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, turns and then exits the auditorium.

She spends the night locked in her bedroom ignoring the chime of her cell phone, indicating a new message and ignoring the ring of the land line.

*/*

He’s not sure why he’s the one that is elected to check up on her after the Glee practice is cancelled.

Okay, so maybe he’d volunteered but it’s only because everybody else had already made some sort of attempt to pull her out of her funk and failed fucking miserably.

Whatever. He’s being a man and looking out for his team mates. (He’s kind of sucker for those brown eyes, too.)

He can hear the music coming from her room the second that her father answers the door. When he reaches her bedroom door she’s in the exact position that Quinn, Tina, and Brittany had predicted; lying across her bed, one hand tucked under her pillow, tears rolling down her cheeks and some depressing as fuck song playing through her stereo.

“Okay, what the fuck are you listening to? Seriously, is that what you’ve been doing for the past two weeks; sitting in your room listening to All By Myself?”

Fuck, he’d shared a house with Quinn after she’d been kicked out her parents and then Finn’s so yeah, he’s on naming terms with that damn song.

"Well, Noah, some people have lives; some people have music and for me, music is all I’ve ever had."

“That’s bullshit, Rachel.”

He sees the withering look she sends him; the one that asks if he’s really been that blind to everything she’s experienced through high school and yeah, he kind of has to give her that one but they’ve all been trying.

“Are you serious, Noah?”

He’s well aware that the look on her face, the way she’s moved to sit up on her bed, her hands on her hips, that a classic Rachel Berry lecture is on its way so he cuts her off before she can even start.

“Look, maybe it used to be like that but it isn’t any more. Yeah, we haven’t always been that great to you but we’ve all been trying. Finn fucking begged Schue to give you all those depressing as fuck solos because he knows music helps you sort through your feelings and shit and Quinn, fuck, she tried to set up you up with some douche just so you’d get out of the house and realise that Finn isn’t the only guy in the world that thinks you’re hot as fuck. Even Mercedes and Kurt tried to take you on a shopping trip ‘cause according to them that’s the cure for every-fucking-thing.”

He watches her as she drops her jaw and he sees the realisation cross her face. He doesn’t blame her for questioning all of their intentions because really, it’s deserved but everything that he’s said is true.

They’ve been trying.

“I’m not sure what Mike and Tina’s plans with you were, though. Mike’s a shifty bastard, you know? He gets away with that shit ‘cause he’s always so fucking quiet.”

He gets a laugh out of her and that’s what he was aiming for so it’s all good.

“Somehow your midget ass actually turned us into, like, a team, and we work better when we’re all together. You’re, like, the rope that binds us, even if it feels like you’re wrapping it around our necks like a fucking leash on some days,” he offers with a smug grin. “Fact is, we need you, okay? Yeah, you have all this music but that’s not all you have, Rachel,” he states, turning and walking toward the door. “Not anymore, so c’mon, move your midget ass. We’re going to go do something with the rest of the losers.”


End file.
